From huge sporting events like the 47th Super Bowl, to major news events like the Boston Marathon bombings, to news of the birth of the #RoyalBaby birth to Prince William and Kate Middleton, Twitter is one of the first places for anyone looking to find breaking news and get users’ reactions.

For the fourth year in a row, the social network unveiled its list of the most shared hashtags and topics over the past year, showing what people have been talking about around the world. Check out Twitter’s timeline here to see the most-discussed events of the year. More than 230 million active users send about 500 million tweets a day, according to the site.

Twitter also released its picks for the Golden Tweet category, a list of three tweets that were the most retweeted over the course of 2013.

In the number one slot was a tweet from Lea Michele, one of the stars of the TV show Glee. Her tweet thanking her fans for their support after the death of her boyfriend and Glee co-star Cory Monteith garnered more than 408,000 retweets and shares.

Thank you all for helping me through this time with your enormous love & support. Cory will forever be in my heart. pic.twitter.com/XVlZnh9vOc

At number two was the death of Paul Walker, an actor best known for his performance in the Fast and Furious movie franchise. Walker died in a car crash at the end of November, and the tweet confirming his death garnered about 395,000 retweets and 100,000 favourites.

Candice is a graduate of Carleton University and has worked in several newsrooms as a freelance reporter and intern, including the Edmonton Journal, the Ottawa Citizen, the Globe and Mail, and the Windsor Star. Candice is a dog lover and a coffee drinker.